2024 Paris Olympics men's basketball scores: RJ Barrett stars for Canada vs. Australia, Spain defeats Greece

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Canada is atop the "Group of Death" in men's basketball at the 2024 Olympics after a 93-83 win against Australia on Tuesday in Lille. For the second straight game, RJ Barrett led the Canadians in scoring. He finished with 24 points on 8-for-15 shooting in 25 minutes, plus seven rebounds, five assists and two steals.

Despite the loss, Australia (1-1) is in second place in Group A. Spain (1-1) is in third, thanks to an 84-77 victory over Greece (0-2) on Tuesday, in which Giannis Antetokounmpo had 27 points on 12-for-17 shooting, 11 rebounds, three assists and two steals in defeat.

Tuesday's scores/schedule

Spain 84, Greece 77

Canada 93, Australia 83

France vs. Japan, 11:15 a.m. ET

Germany vs. Brazil, 3 p.m. ET

Canada clamps Boomers

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander picked up two fouls in the first two minutes and missed most of the first quarter, which is one of the reasons that Australia had a four-point lead at halftime. Another reason: Josh Giddey had 15 points at halftime, looking completely at ease running the show for the Boomers.

Everything changed in the second half, though. Canada put Lu Dort on Giddey, his former Oklahoma City Thunder teammate, and increased the physicality across the board. The Boomers committed nine of their 18 turnovers in the third quarter, and Canada held them to just 13 points in the fourth.

At their best, the Canadians, much like Team USA, create chaos with their collective length and athleticism on defense. Australia countered that with ball movement and quick decision-making early on, but later got discombobulated. Canada piled up deflections and scored 28 points off turnovers to Australia's 10.

It's a bummer that Andrew Wiggins isn't with Team Canada, but it's hard to separate his absence from Barrett's strong showings in the first two games. The fact that Barrett made three of his six 3-point attempts against Australia was merely a bonus; what has stood out the entire time is his aggressive, but controlled driving game. He is absolutely thriving as a secondary playmaker, with Gilgeous-Alexander the clear focus of the opponent's game plan. Since Jamal Murray still appears to be ramping up and Wiggins isn't present, Canada has needed everything that Barrett has provided.

Jock Landale continues to be a massive difference-maker for Australia. The big man finished with 16 points on 7-for-10 shooting, 12 rebounds (including six on the offensive glass) and four assists in a game-high 31 minutes. Australia's coaching staff hasn't quite figured out the non-Landale minutes; both Duop Reath and Will Magnay had short stints against Canada.

When the Boomers play Greece on Friday at 7:30 a.m. ET, in their final game of group play, they will be hoping that national team legend Patty Mills can get back on track. He finished with eight points on 2-for-10 shooting (1-for-5 from deep) on Tuesday and was clearly bothered by Canada's collection of point-of-attack defenders.

"The concern coming into the game was their pressure and how we handle their pressure," Boomers coach Brian Goorjian said, via fiba.com. "Even though we had depth in those spots, they wore us down physically, and we really had trouble getting into anything in the second half."

Gilgeous-Alexander had a modest 16 points, but was amazing. He shot 8 for 10, got three steals and blocked two shots, including one in which he seemed to materialize out of nowhere to swat Jack McVeigh from the weak side. The Boomers have a bunch of top-notch point-of-attack defenders themselves, but, as usual, Gilgeous-Alexander created good (for him) looks whenever he needed to.

"He's that guy," Canada coach Jordi Fernandez said, via fiba.com. "Sometimes, I don't call plays for him and he just scores. That's what he does. Probably, I should be better and call more plays for him, but he finds a way."

Canada's last game of group play is Friday at 11:15 a.m. ET against Spain. 

Antetokounmpo, Greece fall to 0-2

Here's Antetokounmpo going coast to coast for a lefty dunk on Santi Aldama's head:

Giannis Antetokounmpo added another MONSTER poster to his collection. 😤 #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/XLH8ltyjId

— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) July 30, 2024

This play tied Greece's game against Spain with about four and a half minutes left in the fourth quarter. Greece had trailed by as many as 16 points in the first half, but Antetokounmpo -- and Vasilis Toliopoulos, who shot 4 for 6 from deep in 17 minutes off the bench -- led them back.

Spain immediately answered, though, with an 8-0 run punctuated by a putback dunk from Aldama, who finished with a team-high 19 points on 6-for-14 shooting, 12 rebounds, two assists and three blocks in 29 minutes.

"He's our best player, and he knows it," Spain guard Dario Brizuela said, via fiba.com. "He's making a step forward this year compared to the World Cup last year. He's our leader now. He played an amazing game and we're happy for him." 

In crunch time, Spain surprised Greece by going to a box-and-1 defense, with Willy Hernangomez sticking to Antetokounmpo.

"We thought we'd keep it for the very end of the game," Spain coach Sergio Scariolo said, via fiba.com. "Actually, with Luis Gil, our defensive coordinator, we've been talking a lot about doing it at some point, but we decided to keep it for the very end, because I wanted to keep Willy on the floor, his pick-and-roll with Lorenzo [Brown] is a big weapon for us."

Greece made one last late push and had a chance to tie the game in the final minute, but Antetokounmpo clanked a 3.

Brown finished with seven points and 10 assists in 28 minutes. Sergio Lllull had 13 points, including 11 (and all three of his 3-pointers) in the first half.

Toliopoulos gave Greece a spark with his shooting, but everybody else on the roster shot a combined 8 for 29 from 3-point range.

At 0-2, Greece must beat Australia on Friday to have a chance of advancing to the knockout round.

2024 Paris Olympics men's basketball scores: RJ Barrett stars for Canada vs. Australia, Spain defeats Greece

2024 Paris Olympics men's basketball scores: RJ Barrett stars for Canada vs. Australia, Spain defeats Greece

2024 Paris Olympics men's basketball scores: RJ Barrett stars for Canada vs. Australia, Spain defeats Greece

2024 Paris Olympics men's basketball scores: RJ Barrett stars for Canada vs. Australia, Spain defeats Greece

2024 Paris Olympics men's basketball scores: RJ Barrett stars for Canada vs. Australia, Spain defeats Greece